THE DETERIORATING QUALITY OF PRIVATE SLEEPER BUSES IN INDIA. A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE I FACED.

"Almost 1.7 million private sleeper buses were registered in India in the year 2017 which are carrying around 7 million people every day since then" says a stat. 

Private Sleeper Buses have dominated the Passenger Transport Industry in India since 2017. There are uncountable carriers, offering tickets in different price ranges, with multiple pick up and drop points and also providing water bottles and snacks for free.

Trains are always Indian's fundamental preferences. But we tend to commute and travel in the final moment and trains are always full at that point. That has become the primary ground for Sleeper buses to leverage their businesses & demands in India. 

BUT WHAT ABOUT THEIR QUALITY? ARE THEY SAFE AND RELIABLE? 

Apart from the bumpy ride & No-restrooms, I have one huge point to complain about here and that’s safety and a reliable ride. 

I was one who loved travelling in a sleeper bus until I faced this terrible event which totally shifted my perspective on this service.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO US:

We had booked a SLEEPER FULLY AIR CONDITIONED BUS with KPN TRAVELS for myself and my family from Chennai to Coimbatore.

We had scheduled that the boarding point would be Adyar and the pickup time was 9 pm. We were waiting at a KPN boarding office till 9.30 pm.

Suddenly the office boy told us that our bus was waiting at T Nagar due to some technical issues. He offered to take us to the spot in a temporary KPN bus standing there. All the other passengers accepted and we boarded the bus.

When we reached T Nagar, again some men there at the office told, the bus was waiting at another location. We didn't refuse and accepted for the same.

On the way we picked more passengers who had booked tickets online for the bus we had booked too. It was already roughly 11 pm.

This happened almost 4 times whereby lot of men in the bus got frustrated and started shouting at the driver. They called different KPN office numbers but nobody picked the call. One guy picked the call after several tries. He informed that the bus is waiting at Perungalathur which will be the final location to board the bus.

Perungalathur is almost the outskirts of Chennai and is close to the National highways. We had no other way than to obey to them. It was roughly 12.30 am when we reached Perungalathur.

WHAT DO U THINK WOULD HAVE HAPPENED NEXT?

Do you think we boarded the bus?

No. You are wrong.

There wasn’t any bus waiting to pick us. All we could understand that, we were being fooled by these shitty KPN people. The passengers in the bus became furious and terribly angry on the driver. 

They held him at his shirt collar and started throwing questions left and right. People tried calling the office from the driver’s number itself but nobody picked the call and the driver was caught in the chaos.

One of the passengers called the Cops and they were there in no time. Immediately the driver pretended as if he knew nothing and was helpless and only obeyed what his seniors had told him. He revealed that he was on leave that day and just because his superiors had given orders, he drove the bus till that point.

It was around 1.30 am and all of us including women and children were standing on the national highway. Some of the passengers left back to Chennai. Few of them took some Public transport and left the place. Only few of us were stranded there.

At 1.30 am we were standing on the road at the highway somewhere like the above.

The cops then told the driver to drive all the way to Coimbatore to drop the passengers. He then began lying saying that the tyres of the bus were inadequately inflated and that could lead to uncontrollable problems since that was only a temporary service bus.

But when other men inspected the tyres, they were completely alright and the driver was only manipulating unwantedly. Finally he somehow accepted to drive us to our destination.

Me, my mom and my younger brother were praying to reach safe. We reached Coimbatore around 10.30 am in the morning. The bus was supposed to reach at 5 am.

I missed my college, my brother his exams but we were thankful to God for bringing us safe back home.

MY MESSAGE TO PEOPLE OUT THERE;

Not all travels are cheating people, there are a lot of trustworthy ones too. Be careful while you pick one. Don’t ignore reading reviews on the Booking Sites.

>> After this incident, we had made it a point to opt for Railways. The tickets would be full, but we wait and make a TATKAL BOOKING, even though the price is slightly higher.

>> Else it’s better to book tickets with TNSTC, KSRTC, TGSRTC etc.. They at least assure you of a safe & trouble-free journey.

Even though my father was unfortunately not there with us that day, I and my mom were courageous enough to face it boldly.

“IT WAS A LESSON FOR LIFE AND AN EXPERIENCE FOR A LIFETIME”. 

This blog post is a re-write to the answer I wrote on Quora to 'Whats your most unforgettable travel experience'?

This write up broke my writing records on Quora with the maximum number of views, upvotes, comments and shares. 

This is a section from the Quora answer.

I was extremely shocked to read the comments published below the write up. Majority of the people who commented had faced similar situation at different parts of India with different travel companies.

I wish to show you few of them below. 

I can continue showing you more and more grievances people had poured in. I came to know that the problem was not only with KPN, but with many other operators throughout India.

HERE ARE SOME PRECAUTIONS YOU SHOULD TAKE:

• Read customer reviews before you book tickets (Don't blindly book keeping your convenient timing alone in mind)

• Prefer regular operators and avoid trying new & unknown transporters (Go for choosing regular, trustworthy & peer recommended carriers)

• Choose railways over roadways to the maximum for long distances (Tatkal fares and sleeper bus charges are almost same these days)

• For last moment emergency travels, prefer to take public transportation. (You can prefer to take your state transportation - they are comfortable as well)

• Don't simply go for the cheapest option. It's okay to spend extra for safety. (Spending extra for a timely reach and safety is a wise decision)

Incidents like these are never said to not happen, they might even come your way. Fear not and stay united during such tough times.

"CHOOSE RIGHT AND HAVE A SAFE TRAVEL..!!"

Have you faced or heard of any such incidents? Tell me below. Share this blog to the maximum. Everybody should be aware of such things.

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